Sony has another public image meltdown on its hands. According to a report by Playstationlifestyle.net, a group of hackers known as 'The Three Musketeers' claim to have discovered a security key that could potentially make all existing consoles able to decrypt current and future games and use custom firmware.
The group claims to have not intended to leak the keys but somehow it leaked anyway, found its way to a group of Chinese hackers who intended to sell it for profit, according to the report. At this point, 'The Three Musketeers' released the keys publicly to spite those that would profit from their work. Console security cannot, I repeat cannot, be beefed up via firmware upgrade, according to the report.

The key in question is a set of LV0 codes that can decrypt the PlayStation’s Level 0 security and allows custom firmware users to decrypt all future games, run homebrew software or linux, according to a report by CNET. With the release of a new console possibly the only solution, Sony may have to release a new one soon.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) was hacked in April of 2011, causing service outages for 24 days. The company stated that personal information from 77 million accounts appeared to have been stolen. The following month, a security patch – PS3 firmware version 3.61 – was released to rectify the breach.